U.S. patent number 7,539,698 [Application Number 10/586,497] was granted by the patent office on 2009-05-26 for file name generating unit.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Panasonic Corporation. Invention is credited to Nobukatsu Okuda, Hideki Ootaka, Hiroshi Saitoh, Katsuyuki Sakaniwa, Toshihiro Tanaka, Hisataka Ueda, Norikatsu Yoshida.
United States Patent |
7,539,698 |
Sakaniwa , et al. |
May 26, 2009 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
File name generating unit
Abstract
An object of the present invention is to reduce a possibility of
existence of a plurality of identical file names in files which are
created by a plurality of apparatuses. This is accomplished using a
file name generation apparatus having an UMID generation unit (12)
generating a globally unique identifier, and a file name generation
unit (14) generating a file name including the globally unique
identifier generated by the UMID generation unit (12).
Inventors: |
Sakaniwa; Katsuyuki
(Takarazuka, JP), Tanaka; Toshihiro (Nishinomiya,
JP), Saitoh; Hiroshi (Sakai, JP), Ootaka;
Hideki (Hirakata, JP), Yoshida; Norikatsu (Osaka,
JP), Ueda; Hisataka (Kadoma, JP), Okuda;
Nobukatsu (Neyagawa, JP) |
Assignee: |
Panasonic Corporation (Osaka,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
35125259 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/586,497 |
Filed: |
March 2, 2005 |
PCT
Filed: |
March 02, 2005 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/JP2005/003466 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
July 20, 2006 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2005/098627 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
October 20, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20070027892 A1 |
Feb 1, 2007 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1;
707/999.102 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
16/10 (20190101); Y10S 707/99943 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
17/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;707/101,102,103R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1221917 |
|
Jul 1999 |
|
CN |
|
7-73205 |
|
Mar 1995 |
|
JP |
|
10-177646 |
|
Jun 1998 |
|
JP |
|
11-110531 |
|
Apr 1999 |
|
JP |
|
11-164234 |
|
Jun 1999 |
|
JP |
|
11-243536 |
|
Sep 1999 |
|
JP |
|
2000-187607 |
|
Jul 2000 |
|
JP |
|
2000-242534 |
|
Sep 2000 |
|
JP |
|
2001-16537 |
|
Jan 2001 |
|
JP |
|
2001-61088 |
|
Mar 2001 |
|
JP |
|
2001-109651 |
|
Apr 2001 |
|
JP |
|
2002-73391 |
|
Mar 2002 |
|
JP |
|
2002-297628 |
|
Oct 2002 |
|
JP |
|
2003-319330 |
|
Nov 2003 |
|
JP |
|
2004-56707 |
|
Feb 2004 |
|
JP |
|
2004-96582 |
|
Mar 2004 |
|
JP |
|
Other References
Standard ECMA-107, "Volume and File Structure of Disk Cartridges
for Information Interchange", 2nd Edition, Jun. 1995, pp. i-40.
cited by other .
Chinese Office Action issued Sep. 7, 2007 in Chinese Patent
Application No. 200580003230.2. cited by other.
|
Primary Examiner: Al-Hashemi; Sana
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack,
L.L.P.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A file name generation apparatus that generates a file name,
said file name generation apparatus comprising: an identifier
generation unit operable to generate an identifier that includes
(i) information identifying a chronological order in which a file
is created and (ii) information identifying a hardware that creates
the file; a calculation unit operable to calculate a hash value of
the generated identifier, the hash value being represented by N
characters, which are alpha-numeric characters that are usable for
a file name of the file; a number issue unit operable to issue a
number when the file is created; and a file name generation unit
operable to generate the file name, the file name including (i) the
hash value represented by the N alpha-numeric characters and (ii)
the number issued by said number issue unit, wherein said
calculation unit calculates the hash value by (i) dividing the
identifier into a plurality of blocks, each block having N bytes,
(ii) calculating an arithmetic operation value having N bytes by
performing a predetermined arithmetic operation on the plurality of
blocks, and (iii) setting the hash value represented by the N
alpha-numeric characters to a remainder calculated by dividing the
arithmetic operation value by a predetermined value.
2. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said identifier generation unit is operable to generate the
identifiers to further include (i) one of a date and a time when
the file is created, and a serial number representing the
chronological order in which the file is created, and (ii) a serial
number of a storage medium in which the file is stored.
3. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said identifier generation unit is operable to generate the
identifier to further include (i) a random number generated when
the file is created, and (ii) one of a serial number of said file
name generation apparatus, and a serial number of a storage medium
in which the file is stored.
4. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the hash value is calculated such that the hash value is
represented by an alpha-numeric character in base-L notation, where
L is larger than 10.
5. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the hash value is calculated such that the hash value is
represented by two alpha-numeric characters, wherein the number
issued by said number issue unit is represented by four
alpha-numeric characters, and wherein the generated file name
includes (i) the hash value represented by the two alpha-numeric
characters and (ii) the number issued by said number issue unit
represented by the four alpha-numeric characters.
6. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the hash value is calculated such that the hash value is
represented by two alpha-numeric characters, wherein the number
issued by said number issue unit is represented by four
alpha-numeric characters, and wherein the generated file name
includes (i) the hash value represented by the two alpha-numeric
characters, (ii) the number issued by said number issue unit
represented by the four alpha-numeric characters, and (iii) a
channel number that is represented by two alpha-numeric
characters.
7. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1 further
comprising a storage unit operable to store multimedia data into a
storage medium using the file name generated by said file name
generation unit.
8. The file name generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said identifier generation unit is operable to generate, as the
identifier, a Unique Material Identifier defined in SMPTE330M
standard.
9. A method for generating a file name, said method comprising:
generating an identifier that includes (i) information identifying
a chronological order in which a file is created and (ii)
information identifying a hardware that creates the file;
calculating a hash value of the generated identifier, the hash
value being represented by N characters, which are alpha-numeric
characters that are usable for a file name of the file; issuing a
number when the file is created; and generating the file name, the
file name including (i) the calculated hash value represented by
the N alpha-numeric characters and (ii) the issued number, wherein
said calculation of the hash value includes (i) dividing the
identifier into a plurality of blocks, each block having N bytes,
(ii) calculating an arithmetic operation value having N bytes by
performing a predetermined arithmetic operation on the plurality of
blocks, and (iii) setting the hash value represented by the N
alpha-numeric characters to a remainder calculated by dividing the
arithmetic operation value by a predetermined value.
10. A computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded
thereon, said program for generating a file name, and said program
causing a computer to execute a method comprising: generating an
identifier that includes (i) information identifying a
chronological order in which a file is created and (ii) information
identifying a hardware that creates the file; calculating a hash
value of the generated identifier, the hash value being represented
by N characters, which are alpha-numeric characters that are usable
for a file name of the file; issuing a number when the file is
created; and generating the file name, the file name including (i)
the calculated hash value represented by the N alpha-numeric
characters and (ii) the issued number, wherein said calculation of
the hash value includes (i) dividing the identifier into a
plurality of blocks, each block having N bytes, (ii) calculating an
arithmetic operation value having N bytes by performing a
predetermined arithmetic operation on the plurality of blocks, and
(iii) setting the hash value represented by the N alpha-numeric
characters to a remainder calculated by dividing the arithmetic
operation value by a predetermined value.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for generating a file
name, and more especially to a technology for generating a file
name in an image capturing apparatus, such as a video camera or a
digital still camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image capturing apparatus, such as a video camera or a is
digital still camera, data can be stored in a random access storage
medium, such as a memory card, a hard disk, or an optical disk.
When the data is stored in such a storage medium, it is common to
store the data as a file for the purpose of user convenience.
Here, a module called a file system is used to manage the file in
the storage medium. A common file system is the File Allocation
Table (FAT) (non-patent document 1: Standard ECMA-107, "Volume and
File Structure of Disk Cartridges for Information Interchange").
Since it is complicated to operate the file system, usually an
operating system (OS) is equipped in the image capturing apparatus
to implement the file system as software.
Here, when the file is stored in the storage medium equipped in the
image capturing apparatus, in order to avoid bothering a user with
file name designation, it is common that a program equipped in the
image capturing apparatus automatically generates a file name, such
as a serial number. However, this method for automatically
generating a file name has a problem that, when a file in the
storage medium is copied onto a personal computer (PC), the PC
already has the same file name whose file has been previously
copied from the storage medium. In this case, there is a risk that
the new file is written over the existing file and eventually the
existing file is deleted. As a result, various methods for
generating a file name have been suggested to prevent the
above-mentioned risk of deletion.
For example, a patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
11-164234 publication) discloses a method for generating a
directory with a name including an image-capturing time. Further, a
patent document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-109651
publication) discloses a method for generating a file name which is
not identical with any other file name and is easily arranged in
order of an image-capturing date (year, month, and date). Still
further, a patent document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
10-177646 publication) discloses a method by which a file name is
not identical with any other file name as far as the file is
created by the same image capturing apparatus. This means that, in
the methods disclosed in patent documents 1 to 3, the
image-capturing time is included in the file name in order to solve
the problem of overwriting and deleting the existing file.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For news reports by a broadcast station, however, it is common that
a plurality of users take videos or photographs by using a
plurality of image capturing apparatuses at the same time. Thereby,
there is a case that files created by the above image capturing are
gathered in a single PC or storage medium to edit the files.
In this case, there is a high risk of existence of a plurality of
identical file names in the same apparatus, when the file names
include only their image-capturing times. In a case that there are
a plurality of identical file names, it is necessary to change one
of the identical file names in order to prevent from overwriting
and deleting the existing file.
In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the
present invention to reduce a possibility of existence of a
plurality of identical file names in files which are created by a
plurality of apparatuses.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present
invention, a file name generation apparatus which generates a file
name, the apparatus includes: an identifier generation unit
operable to generate a globally unique identifier; and a file name
generation unit operable to generate a file name which includes the
globally unique identifier generated by the identifier generation
unit. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the existence of a
plurality of identical file names in the files which are created by
a plurality of the image capturing apparatuses.
Here, the globally unique identifier includes: information for
identifying a chronological order in which a file is created; and
information for identifying a hardware which creates the file. By
including, in the file names, information for identifying an order
in which the files have been created, it is possible to prevent the
existence of a plurality of identical file names which are
generated by a single apparatus. Further, by including, in the file
names, information for identifying hardware apparatuses which have
created the files, it is possible to prevent the existence of a
plurality of identical file names which are generated by a
plurality of apparatuses.
More specifically, the globally unique identifier includes: one of
a date and a time when the file is created, and a serial number
representing a chronological order in which the file is created;
and one of a serial number of the file name generation apparatus,
and a serial number of a storage medium in which the file is
stored. In other words, the "data for identifying a order by which
the files are created" means a date and a time of the file creation
or a serial number which indicates a order by which the files are
created. On the other hand, The "data for identifying a hardware
which creates the fie" means a serial number of the file name
generation apparatus, or a serial number of the storage medium in
which the created file is stored.
Thus, it is possible to generate a globally unique identifier only
by combining the serial number of the file generation and the
serial number of the storage medium.
Here, the calculation unit may calculate a hash value from the
globally unique identifier generated by the identifier generation
unit, and the file name generation may generate a file name which
includes the hash value calculated by the calculation unit.
Thereby, is the globally unique identifier is converted into a
character string with a predetermined length, so that it is
possible to shorten the file name.
Furthermore, the hash value may be represented by an alpha-numeric
character in base-N notation, where N is larger than 10. Thereby,
it is possible to indicate more values by using a limited number of
characters.
Still further, the file name which includes the hash value may be
represented by a main file name of eight or less characters and an
extension of three or less characters. Thereby, it is possible to
implement the present invention even in a file system which
supports only a short file name, a so-called 8.3 format.
Still further, the storage unit may store multimedia data into a
storage medium, under the file name which is generated by the file
name generation unit. Thereby, it is possible to store, into the
storage medium such as a memory card, multimedia data which is
created by the image capturing apparatus such as a video
camera.
Note that the present invention can be implemented not only as the
above-described file name generation apparatus, but also as a file
name generation method which includes characteristic processing
performed by the file name generation apparatus, and as a program
which causes a computer to perform the processing. Here, it is
obvious that such a program can be distributed via a storage medium
such as a CD-ROM, or a transmission medium such as the
Internet.
Accordingly, the file name generation apparatus according to the
present invention enables to generate a file name which includes a
globally unique identifier, so that it is possible to prevent
existence of a plurality of identical file names in files which are
created by a plurality of apparatuses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall editing system to
which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of an image
capturing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data format of an extended UMID.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the image
capturing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a file name according to
the first embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a directory structure in a storage
medium.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a directory structure in an editing
apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another format of a file name according
to the first embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a globally
unique identifier.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a FAT format.
FIG. 11 shows a directory entry.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing information of file storage which is
arranged in a FAT.
FIG. 13 is a schematic functional block diagram of an image
capturing apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the image
capturing apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a format of a file name according to
the second embodiment.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a directory structure of the storage
medium.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing processing for generating a hash
value.
FIG. 18 is a schematic functional block diagram of the editing
apparatus.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing search processing performed by the
editing apparatus.
FIG. 20A is a diagram showing one example of a search keyword entry
screen which is displayed by the editing apparatus.
FIG. 20B is a diagram showing one example of a search result screen
which is displayed by the editing apparatus.
FIG. 21 is a diagram showing one example of a correspondence table
in which UMIDs corresponds to image-capturing locations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following describes the embodiments according to the prevent
invention with reference to the drawings.
First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall editing system to
which the present invention is applied. Here, it is assumed that
multimedia data (hereafter, referred to as simply "data"), such as
video data and audio data, which are created by three image
capturing apparatuses 10a, 10b, and 10c are edited in a single
editing apparatus 30. The image capturing apparatuses 10a, 10b, and
10c transmit the data to the editing apparatus 30 by using storage
media 20a, 20b, and 20c, respectively.
The image capturing apparatuses 10a, 10b, and 10c (hereafter,
referred to as "image capturing apparatus 10" when they are not
distinguished) are video cameras, digital still cameras, or the
like, which create multimedia data, such as video data and audio
data. The storage media 20a, 20b, and 20c (hereafter, referred to
as "storage medium 20" when they are not distinguished) are memory
cards, hard disks, optical disks, or the like, which pass, to the
editing apparatus 30, the data created by the image capturing
apparatus 10. The editing apparatus 30 is a PC or the like, which
is equipped with software for editing the data stored in the
storage medium 20.
FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of the image
capturing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown
in FIG. 2, the image capturing apparatus 10 includes as functions:
an image capturing (photographing) unit 11; a unique material
identifier (UMID) generation unit 12; a serial number issue unit
13; a file name generation unit 14; and a writing unit 15. The
image capturing unit 11 includes a camera unit for creating video
data, a microphone for creating audio data, and the like. The UMID
generation unit 12 generates a below-described UMID after the image
capturing unit 11 generates the data. The serial number issue unit
13 issues a serial number, such as "0001", after the image
capturing unit 11 generates the data. The file name generation unit
14 generates a file name which includes the UMID generated by the
UMID generation unit 12 and the serial number issued by the serial
number issue unit 13. The writing unit 15 writes, into the storage
medium 20, the data which is created by the image capturing
apparatus 11, under the file name which is generated by the file
name generation unit 14. Obviously, the image capturing apparatus
10 further includes an operation unit for operating the apparatus,
a reproduction unit for reproducing the data stored in the storage
medium 20, and the like, but these units are not shown in the
figure, since they are not principal features of the present
invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data format of an extended UMID which
is defined by the SMPTE330M. The UMID is a globally unique
identifier (one and only identifier in the world) for identifying a
material, such as video and audio, before the material is edited,
and the UMID includes: a 32-byte basis UMID 630 and a 32-byte
source pack 631, as shown in FIG. 3.
The basic UMID 630 includes: a 12-byte universal label 632; a
1-byte length 633; a 3-byte instance number 634; and a 16-byte
material number 635. In the universal label 632, a byte sequence
from the first byte to the tenth byte is fixed, and the eleventh
and the twelfth byte represent information which indicates whether
the data is video data or audio data, and information which
indicates material number generation method, respectively. The
length 633 is a length of the byte sequence from the instance
number 634. The instance number 634 indicates whether the data is
original data or copied data.
The material number 635 is the number which is not zero and
generated by one of techniques defined in standard regulation, and
the material number 635 includes, for example, a 7-byte date and
time; a 1-byte time zone (or random number); and a 8-byte machine
node (SMTPTE330M Annex AA.4, IEEE1394 network method). The 7-byte
date and time includes the first 4-byte time and the last 3-byte
date. As the machine node, EUI-64 Network Node ID which is defined
by the IEEE1394 is used. Alternatively, the material number 635
includes a 8-byte time snap, a 2-byte random number, and a 6-byte
machine node (SMTPTE330M AnnexAA.1, SMPTE method). The time snap is
values which indicate a frame, a second, a minute, and a time, each
of which is obtained from, for example, clock information generated
by a time code generator in the apparatus. The random number is
obtained from, for example, a M-sequence generator which is
automatically executed by software. The machine node includes the
first 3-byte value which is assigned to a organization name, and
the last 3-byte value which is an unique serial number which is
assigned to the applied apparatus.
The source pack 631 represents meta data and includes a 8-byte time
636, a 12-byte location 637, a 4-byte country 638, a 4-byte
organization 639, and 4-byte user 640. Those information can be
obtained by using the global positioning system (GPS).
Here, the image capturing apparatus 10 is assumed to store the vide
data and the audio data separately in different files in the
storage medium 20, in consideration of affinity with the editing.
This means that a plurality of files are created when a video or a
photograph is taken. A combination of the video data and the audio
data, which are created at the same time, is referred to as a clip.
The clip may include thumbnail, meta data, and the like, in
addition to the video data and the audio data. Furthermore, the
file of video data and the file of audio data file, which are
components in the clip, are referred to as essence files.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the image
capturing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The
following describes the processing performed by the image capturing
apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment with reference to
FIG. 4.
Firstly, the serial number issue unit 13 issues a serial number,
such as "0001" (S11), and passes the serial number to the file name
generation unit 14. On the other hand, the UMID generation unit 12
generates a basic UMID, such as
"060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC0040 001004200024"
(S12), and passes the basic UMID to the file name generation unit
14. Thereby, the file name generation unit 14 generates a file name
which includes the serial number and the basic UMID (S13), and
passes the file name to the writing unit 15. The writing unit 15
writes, as a file, the data which is generated by a imaging unit
(not shown) into the storage medium 20, under the file name which
is generated by the file name generation unit 14 (S14).
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of the file name according to
the first embodiment. A 4-character XXXX part 650 is used for a
clip name (serial number). The serial number enables to ensure
visibility and comprehensibility of a user, as described is further
below. A YY . . . YY part 651 is used for the basic UMID which is
expressed by ASCII (64-character ASCII). A Z part 652 of one
character is used for a channel number if the file is audio data.
An EXT part 653 of three or less characters is used for a file
extension.
For example, a file name of a MXF audio file in the first channel
which is the first data taken by the image capturing apparatus 10
is
"001.sub.--060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC00400010042000-
24.sub.--0.mxf". The MXF file is defined by SMPTE377M.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a directory structure in the storage
medium 20. Here, a "contents" directory has sub-directories of an
"audio" directory, a "meta" directory, and a "video" directory. The
audio directory manages audio data, the meta directory manages meta
data, and the video directory manages video data. This means that
the directories are not divided according to clips, but divided
according to types of essence files.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a directory structure in the editing
apparatus 30. Here, in the same manner as described for the
directory structure of the storage medium 20, a "contents"
directory has sub-directories of an "audio" directory, a "meta"
directory, and a "video" directory. There are essence files FL1_1,
F1_2 and F1_3, each of which has a same character string
"0001.sub.--015C2A230101010801010C2123000000CDC5342A345002B
D0020003002100035", and essence files FL2_1, F2_2 and F2_3, each of
which has a same character string
"0001.sub.--060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005C
C0040001004200024".
For the above-described clip, the clip name (serial number) is
"0001", and the basic UMID is
"060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC0040
001004200024". Thus, each essence file of this clip includes, in
each file name, a character string of
"0001.sub.--060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005C
C0040001004200024".
The user can recognize that the files FL2_1, F2_2, and F2_3, each
of which has the same character string, are essence files belonging
to the same clip. Obviously, in a single image capturing apparatus
10, only clip name (serial number) "0001" is necessary to recognize
those files as essence files belonging to the same clip.
As described above, according to the first embodiment, a file name
which includes the basic UMID is generated, so that no plurality of
identical file names exist in the files which are created by a
plurality of image capturing apparatuses. This means that, even if
clips, which are generated by a plurality of image capturing
apparatuses, are copied into the same directory in the editing
apparatus, no plurality of identical file names appear in the
editing apparatus. This prevents a necessity of changing the file
name, or a problem of overwriting and deleting the clip.
Note that the first embodiment has described that the file name
includes the basic UMID, but the same effect as described above can
be achieved by using any other globally unique identifier. Here, in
order to generate the UMID, a serial number of the image capturing
apparatus 10 is necessary, as described above. Even if another
globally unique identifier except the UMID is applied, such an
identifier is obtained by requesting a specific host computer to
provide the identifier, so that it is difficult to apply such a
method for all image capturing apparatuses.
Therefore, in a case that it is necessary to easily obtain the
globally unique identifier, a serial number of the storage medium
20 may be used. That is, if the serial number of the storage medium
20 is included in the file name, the same identical file name does
not exist in another storage medium 20, so that uniqueness is
required to be ensured only in each storage medium 20. In order to
ensure the uniqueness in the storage medium 20, a serial number of
the file creation may be used, for example. That is, as shown in
FIG. 8, the XXXX part 650 is used for the serial number of the file
creation, and the YY . . . YY part 671 is used for the serial
number of the storage medium 20.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the globally
unique identifier. As shown in FIG. 9, a character string can be
considered to be the globally unique identifier, since the
character string includes: data for identifying a chronological
order in which a file has been created; and data for identifying a
hardware which creates the file. Here, the data for identifying a
chronological order, in which a file has been created, is a date
and time of the file creation, or the above-described serial
number, for example. On the other hand, the data for identifying a
hardware, which creates the file, is a serial number of the image
capturing apparatus 10, a serial number of the storage medium 20
equipped in the image capturing apparatus 10, or a volume label,
for example.
Note that, the file name may include any other information, if the
file name includes a globally unique identifier. For example, the
file name may include an extended UMID, instead of the basic
UMID.
Note that the first embodiment has described that the file name
includes the serial number of the file creation in addition to the
basic UMID, but the present invention is not limited to the above.
This means that, the file name includes the serial number in order
to ensure the visibility and the comprehensibility of the user, so
that the serial number is not necessarily included in the file name
in order only to solve the conventional problem of the existence of
a plurality of identical file names.
Note also that, in the first embodiment, the image capturing
apparatus 10 is assumed to automatically generate a file name
thereby using the serial number as the clip name, but the present
invention is not limited to the above. This means that, the file
name includes the clip name in order to ensure the visibility and
the comprehensibility of the user, so that the user may enter any
arbitrary clip name every time the user takes video or a
photograph.
Second Embodiment
Although the first embodiment has been described based on the
assumption that the file system supports the long file name, some
file systems do not support the long file name. For example, the
FAT file system support a short file name in so-called 8.3 format
which includes a main file name of eight or less characters and an
extension of three or less characters.
Therefore, as described in the first embodiment, even if a file
name "0001.sub.--060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005C
C0040001004200024.sub.--0.mxf" is generated, the file name is
changed to a file name "0001.sub.--060 . . . mxf" to be managed in
the FAT file system, which files to achieve the effect in the first
embodiment of preventing the existence of a plurality of identical
file names. The following describes differences between a structure
of the image capturing apparatus 10 according to the second
embodiment and that of the first embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a FAT format. A physical drive 600,
such as a memory card or a hard disk, includes: a master boot
record 602 which is generally in the first area of the physical
drive 600; and one or more logical drives 601. Each logical drive
601 is formatted with one type of file system. If the logical drive
601 is formatted with the FAT format, there are arranged system
areas, which are, from the first area in the drive, a partition
boot sector 603, a file allocation table (FAT) 604, a backup 604b
of the FAT, and a root directory entry 605, and after those system
areas there is arranged a user data area 606. The partition boot
sector 603 stores information which is necessary to start
partitioning, such as is the number of sectors in a partition. The
FAT 604 stores information of file storage. The user data area 606
stores file data itself. The file is stored in units of clusters (4
Kbytes to 32 Kbytes, normally).
FIG. 11 shows a directory entry of a file whose file name is
FLOWER02.AVI. The root directory entry 605 stores, as an entry,
information of a file or a directory in a root directory. In a
directory of a hierarchical structure, every file and directory is
stored as a directory entry 607 of 32 bytes, as shown in FIG. 11.
Thus, in the FAT format, a file is stored in 8.3 format in which a
file name is stored as eight characters and an extension is stored
as three characters. The directory entry 607 includes a first
cluster number 608 of cluster numbers which correspond to the
stored file data. The first cluster number 608 is used to access
the file data.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the information of file storage which
is arranged in the FAT 604. The FAT 604 is a table which manages
clusters in the user data area 606. The FAT 604 stores cluster
numbers of next data in a file, in units of 12 bits, 16 bits, or
the like. For example, when a file 620 is divided into partial data
621, 622, and 623, and stored into clusters having cluster numbers
3, 4, and 7, respectively, in order to store the file 620 into the
user data area 606, the FAT 604 stores "4" in a position of the
cluster number 3, stores "7" in a position of the cluster number 4,
and finally stores an "End" mark in a position of the cluster
number 7, as information for connecting the clusters. The first
cluster number 3 of the file 620 is stored in the directory entry
607 regarding the file 620, as described above.
FIG. 13 is a schematic functional block diagram of an image
capturing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment. As shown
in FIG. 13, an image capturing apparatus 10 according to the second
embodiment has the same structure as the structure of the image
capturing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, but a calculation
unit 16 is added in the image capturing apparatus 10 according to
the second embodiment. The calculation unit 16 calculates a hash
value by using the basic UMID which is generated by the UMID
generation unit 12. A method for the calculation is described in
more detail further below.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the image
capturing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment. The
following describes the processing performed by the image capturing
apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment.
Firstly, the serial number issue unit 13 issues a serial number,
such as "0001" (S21), and passes the serial number to the file name
generation unit 14. On the other hand, the UMID generation unit 12
generates a basic UMID, such as
"060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC0040 001004200024"
(S22), and passes the basic UMID to the calculation unit 16.
Thereby, the calculation unit 16 calculates a hash value by using
the basic UMID generated by the UMID generation unit 12 (S23), and
passes the hash value to the file name generation unit 14. Thereby,
the file name generation unit 14 generates a file name which
includes the serial number and the hash value (S24), and passes the
file name to the writing unit 15. The writing unit 15 writes, as a
file, data which is created by an imaging unit (not shown) into the
storage medium 20, under the file name which is generated by the
file name generation unit 14 (S25).
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a format of a file name according to
the second embodiment. A XXXX part 660 is used for the serial
number of four characters. A YY part 661 is used for the hash value
of two characters. A ZZ part 662 is used for a channel number of
two characters. Note that information in the YY part 661 may be
numerals, so that the ZZ part 662 is a zero-padding when the data
is not audio data, in order to increase visibility of the user. An
EXT part 653 is used for a file extension of three or less
characters.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a directory structure of the storage
medium 20. For example, the file name of the MXF audio file in the
first channel which is the first data taken by the image capturing
apparatus 10 is
"001.sub.--060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC00400010042000-
24.sub.--0.mxf" as described in the first embodiment, but in the
second embodiment the file name becomes "0001UQ01.mxf". Processing
for generating a hash value "UQ" to be used in the YY part 661 is
described below.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the processing for generating the hash
value "UQ".
Firstly, a material number "BEF8467C533005CC0040001004200024" is
extracted from a basic UMID
"060A2B340101010501010D4313000000BEF8467C533005CC0040 001004200024"
(S101). Next, the extracted material number is divided into eight
blocks by two bytes, such as "BEF8", "467C", "5330", "05CC",
"0040", "0010", "0420", and "0024" (S102). Then, ASCII characters
of 2 bytes which are divided by the above processing is converted
to numerals of 2 bytes by little endian, such as {0xF8BE, 0x7C46,
0x3053, 0xCC05, 0x4000, 0x1000, 0x2004, 0x2400} (S103). Next, an
exclusive OR 0x2CAA is calculated for each bit of eight numerals of
2 bytes (S104). Next, the calculated exclusive OR 0x2CAA is divided
by 1291 which is the smallest prime number of two digits in base 36
notation in order to leave a reminder 1106 (S105). Finally, the
remainder 1106 is indicated by two digits in base 36 notation with
a zero-padding in order to obtain the hash value UQ (S106).
As described above, according to the second embodiment, the file
name includes the hash value which is calculated from a globally
unique identifier, so that it is possible to reduce a possibility
of the existence of a plurality of identical file names into
1/1291, even if the files names have identical local identifiers
(serial numbers).
Note that, the second embodiment has described that the hash value
has two characters, but, when the hash value has more than three
characters (N characters), the material number may be divided by N
bytes at S102. Note also that the second embodiment has described
that the ASCII character is converted into numerals by little
endian at S103, but the ASCII character may be converted into the
numerals by big endian. Note also that, at S105, the base 36
notation is indicated by the numerals 0 to 9 and the alphabets A to
Z, but the notation can be indicated by other notations by reducing
the alpha-numeric characters or by adding the alpha-numeric
characters with symbols which are usable in the file name.
Note also that, the second embodiment has described that the file
name is generated as a short file name in so-called 8.3 format,
but, the file name may be generated also as other file names,
besides the 8.3 format, such as a long file name, by using the
method by which the file name includes the hash value which is
calculated from a globally unique identifier.
Note also that, the second embodiment has described that the file
name is generated as a short file name in so-called 8.3 format by
including, in the file name, the hash value which is calculated
from a globally unique identifier, but the present invention is not
limited to the above. That is, the user may previously set, in the
image capturing apparatus 10, an identifier which varies depending
on the image capturing apparatus 10, and the file name generation
unit 14 may use the previously set identifier in the YY part
661.
Note also that, the second embodiment has described that the hash
value is calculated from the material number, but the present
invention is not limited to the above. That is, as far as the hash
value is calculated to be a globally unique identifier, the present
invention can achieve the same effect as described above.
Third Embodiment
The first and second embodiments have described the method for
generating a file name which includes a globally unique identifier.
The third embodiment describes a method for searching a file whose
name includes a globally unique identifier, by using the editing
apparatus 30.
FIG. 18 is a schematic functional block diagram of the editing
apparatus 30. The editing apparatus 30 includes, as functions, a
writing unit 31, a storage unit 32, an input unit 33, a search unit
34, and a display unit 35. The writing unit 31 copies (writes) data
in the storage medium 20 onto the storage unit 32. The storage unit
32 is a hard disk or the like which stores the data. The input unit
33 is a keyboard or the like which inputs information. The search
unit 34 searches the storage unit 32 based on the information which
is inputted by the input unit 33. The display unit 35 is a display
or the like which displays the data that is searched by the search
unit 34.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing search processing performed by the
editing apparatus 30. FIG. 20A is a diagram showing one example of
a search keyword entry screen which is displayed by the editing
apparatus 30. FIG. 20B is a diagram showing one example of a search
result screen which is displayed by the editing apparatus 30. The
search processing performed by the editing apparatus 30 is
described below with reference to FIGS. 19, 20A, and 20B.
Firstly, the display unit 35 displays a screen from which a search
keyword is entered, as shown in FIG. 20A. Here, when the user
inputs an image-capturing start time and date, such as "Apr. 1,
2004, 12:30" into an input field L by using the input unit 33, and
clicks a search button B (S31), the search keyword "Apr. 1, 2004,
12:30" is accepted by the search unit 34.
Then, the search unit 34 generates a time snap in a UMID based on
the search keyword "Apr. 1, 2004, 12:30" (S32). More specifically,
a method for setting a time snap of a UMID is a method for setting
a date and time frame (year, month, date, hour, minute, and second)
as data of 8 bytes, so that a frame of "Apr. 1, 2004, 12:30:00" is
represented by a data string {0x87, 0xOA, 0x25, 0x05, 0x96, 0x30,
0x05, 0x80}. Therefore, a file name whose image-capturing start
time and date is "Apr. 1, 2004, 12:30" includes a character string
"870A250596300580".
Then, the search unit 34 searches the storage unit 32 (S33),
searches a file whose file name includes the character string
"870A250596300580", and passes the searched file to the display
unit 35. As a result, as shown in FIG. 20B, the display unit 35
displays a list of files whose image-capturing start times and
dates are "Apr. 1, 2004, 12:30" (S34).
As described above, according to the third embodiment, even if a
file is created with a file name which includes a globally unique
identifier, it is possible to easily search the file by using an
editing apparatus and the like.
Note that the third embodiment has described that the search
keyword is the image-capturing start time and date, but the search
keyword is not limited to the above. For example, the keyword may
be an image-capturing location, such as "Tokyo" or "Osaka".
However, the information of the image-capturing location is not
included in the basic UMID, so that the above case needs to include
the extended UMID in the file name. Alternatively, a correspondence
table as described below can be previously created in order to
search the file based on the image-capturing location, even if the
basic UMID is included in the file name.
FIG. 21 is a diagram showing one example of the correspondence
table in which the UMID corresponds to the image-capturing
location. Here, to simplify the description, the UMID is not
described in detail, but indicated merely as UMID-1 to UMID-4. The
UMID-1 corresponding to Tokyo means that a is material stored in a
file UMID-1 has been created in Tokyo. The UMID-2 corresponding to
Osaka and the UMID-3 corresponding to Tokyo mean in the same manner
as described for the UMID-1. A timing of creating the
correspondence table is not specifically limited, as far as the
correspondence table is created prior to removal of the storage
medium 20 from the image capturing apparatus 10, in other words,
prior to copying the file from the storage medium 20 to the editing
apparatus 30.
For example when the file includes a source pack, the writing unit
31 opens the file and obtains the location information from the
source pack, prior to removal of the storage medium 20 from the
image capturing apparatus 10. Then, a correspondence table T as
described above is created based on the location information and
stored in the storage medium 20. Next, the editing apparatus 30
reads the correspondence table T from the storage medium 20, and
copies the correspondence table T onto the storage unit 32.
Thereby, even if "Tokyo" is inputted as a search keyword, for
example, it is possible to extract the UMID-1, the UMID-3, and the
like which correspond to "Tokyo" by searching the correspondence
table T based on the search keyword "Tokyo".
Note that the above description has not mentioned, but a
conventional search method needs to open a file in order to refer
to details of the file. For example, when an image-capturing start
time and date is input as the search keyword, conventionally it is
impossible to learn the image-capturing start time and date from a
file name, so that it is necessary to open the file and refer to a
source pack in the file. On the other hand, according to the third
embodiment, it is possible to learn the image-capturing start time
and date only from a file name, so that it is not necessary to open
the file. This means that it is possible to shorten a time required
for the search processing.
Note that the second embodiment has described that the file name
includes the hash value which is calculated from a globally unique
identifier, and the above-described search processing can be
performed even in such a case. For example, when the user inputs a
image-capturing start time and date, such as "Apr. 1, 2004, 12:30"
into an input field L by using the input unit 33, and clicks the
search button B, the search unit 34 obtains a character string
"870A250596300580" based on the search keyword "Apr. 1, 2004,
12:30", in the same manner as described above. Then, a hash value
is calculated from the character string "870A250596300580" and
files whose file names include the hash value are searched. The
hash value may be calculated by the search unit 34, or by the
calculation unit 16 instead of the search unit 34 as described in
the second embodiment.
Note that the third embodiment has described that the file is
searched based on the globally unique identifier, but the file may
be searched based on the serial number (local identifier).
Note also that the third embodiment has described the method for
generating the file name of video data and audio data, but the
present invention is not limited to the above. That is, the present
invention can be applied in a method for generating file names of
other materials.
The file name generation apparatus according to the present
invention can be applied to a video camera, a digital still camera,
and the like, in which a plurality of identical name files should
not exist.
* * * * *